Reflections of an Army Man
by Koboldlord
Summary: This is a one shot about Sarge's memories of his soldiers. Post Toy Story 3. My version of what happened. Oneshot.


**Reflections of an Army Man**

"I always told the men that we were the finest bucket of army men ever to bring joy to a child." Sarge told Ken as he sat in that tiny chair made from LEGO bricks. Sunnyside daycare had closed for the day so the toys had free run of the place.

Ken sat across from Sarge, in a much bigger chair, listening to the army man reminisce. Ever since the trio of soldiers had blown in, Ken had been curious about their story. Woody seemed to have known them, speaking to them via letters sent from Bonnie's house.

"I assumed it'd always just been Fix, Gaze and you," Ken told Sarge, taking a sip from his tiny plastic mug. The water in the mug couldn't enter his plastic mouth, but the doll thought it made for good appearances.

"Not always," Sarge said with a look of pride on his tiny green face. "When we arrived at Andy's that Christmas so long ago there were one hundred of us. We were the deluxe bucket too, complete with two parachutes and a jeep. Andy was five when he got us, in the end after I left with Fix and Gaze, he was headed to collage. Do the math." Ken had never been one for numbers so he just nodded his plastic head in agreement.

Sarge leaned back in his LEGO chair, a far off look on his face, "I'm not going to lie and say we were Andy's constant companions. That was always Lightyear or the Sheriff, but we were important. Whenever Andy needed an army, good or bad, he turned to us. Let me tell you, we could make quite an army. It's what we were built for."

"What happened to you guys?" Ken asked, "Only three of you are left today, all those years later. You must have taken quite a beating."

"Army guys aren't the strongest toy, or the biggest," Sarge admitted." We're easily lost or broken, since we're cheap to replace, no one takes the effort to repair us."

His expression changed to one of sorrow. "Our medic, old Sawbone, was good, he could patch up most injuries taken by an Army Man. Broken bases, broken limbs, slight melting, he could treat that. But he wasn't a miracle worker. The first man we lost happened when Andy was six, Gauss, one of our bazooka men. It was during a particularly hectic session of imagination when Andy accidentally tossed him down a heating vent. He ran to get his mother in an attempt to rescue Gauss. As soon as he left the room, we sprang into action. Every toy who could, helped with the rescue attempt but it was too late. Gauss had melted beyond repair."

Sarge gave a salute, "Rest in peace soldier." His arm fell back to his side as he continued. "We continued to loose men at a steady pace. Still, it was less than most army buckets. Andy took very good care of his toys, so we stayed in decent condition. We even picked up a new recruit."

Ken was thoroughly engrossed in Sarge's tale, his mug of water ignored.

"We were at the park, Me, Fix, Gaze, Sawbone and a few others. We'd been set up in the sandbox, typical deployment, when Andy found something long forgotten. A Tan Army Man. Now Ken," Sarge said addressing the doll directly. "Everyone knows that the Tan Army Men are the Archenemies of the Green Army Men, it's our duty to protect children from them. But this poor fellow was so pitiful that I couldn't hate him. I wanted to, I wanted to see a vile Tan, but instead I just saw a poor abandoned fellow hunk of plastic. Andy, being the good kid he was, took the Tan home and added him to our army. The men took to calling him 'Sandy' and the name stuck. Good kid, I hope he's alright."

"What do you mean 'hope'?" Ken asked, "I thought all the other Army men are broken now?"

"I'll get to that," Sarge told him. "Now where was I? Right, I remember. Andy was ten when we lost Sawbones. The doctor and two others were in an outdoor bunker when Andy's mom was mowing the lawn. We tried everything, the Sheriff, Lightyear, Miss Peep, no one could save them." His expression turned grim. "Things got bad after that, with Sawbone gone any injury meant the garbage bin. Worse, Andy was starting to loose interest in his toys, he played with us less and less, not bothering to replace us. Recon was the first to go after Sawbones, Andy's mom crushed him to a pulp under her foot while coming in to take some of the toys away for a yard sale. Mr Spell, Etch, Those egg fellows, the robot, as well as a few others. Gone. A few of my boys were scoped up and sold for three cents apiece! Three cents!" Sarge roared pounding his tiny green fist on the LEGO made chair, "A man's life is worth more than three cents!" He calmed down and went on.

"Lucky wasn't so lucky, he was the next to go. Andy's mom vacuumed him up. By the time we'd cut the bag open he'd been crushed beyond repair. It was after that I decided to do a head count of Charlie bucket. There were nine of us left, plus the parachutes. I was devastated by that, an officer's duty is to look after his men, my company had been demolished. Andy never played with us by this point, most of the other toys were gone and I knew our tour of duty was just about complete. But not before one last yard sale."

Sarge looked on sadly. "Herc, Eyes, Wheezy and Bo were the last to be sold, all in one set to." He shook his head. "They were scared, not sure where they were headed, so Sandy and five others volunteered to accompany them. It made me proud to be their officer. They went in the box with them, unbeknownst to the buyer. I never saw them again." Sarge maintained the sad expression. "I missed Peep, she was quite the woman, intelligent, sassy, sophisticated, but the Sheriff, he took her leaving very hard. It was a year after that when we ran one last mission for the Sheriff. The three of us grabbed Andy's cell and placed it in the toy bin. We wanted to be played with. Well it didn't work, so the Sheriff made one final roll call. It was a sad sight, next to no one was left. That was the point I realized that our mission was complete, Andy had grown up. When his mom arrived with the garbage bag, the three of us would be the first to go. I told the Sheriff that our job was done. We'd lost most of the bucket, but we had done our duty. Using the parachutes we made our departure, heading where the wind would send us. It was an intense two days, but soon we blew up here, and a new tour of duty began."

"Wow," Ken said after a long pause, "That's quite the tale. Glad to have you with us Sergeant."

"A Soldier's work is never done sir," The plastic soldier replied with a salute. Then Sarge got up and hobbled away.

Ken sat alone for a long time as the night covered Sunnyside in darkness. Then he raised his mug in a toast, to Charlie bucket. They may not have been the most famous toys but they were heroes. The unknown soldiers who helped bring Andy into adulthood and save the other toys many times. They were true soldiers in every regard. It was the most profound thought he'd ever had. Ken was looking forward to the adventures Sarge would bring to Sunnyside.

The little green warrior was right, a chapter had closed in his life, but a new one had begun.


End file.
